With more than one million British-born citizens living in Australia and around one third of the population identifying as having English ancestry, the ties between the UK and Australia have long been strong.
However, a string of new UK passport rule changes, coming into effect from 26 February 2026, are causing major headaches for Australians with dual citizenship.
From that date, British and Irish dual citizens will no longer be able to enter the UK using only a non-UK or Irish passport – such as an Australian passport – even if they are legally British citizens.
With the changes only announced in January, scores of travellers have been left in turmoil, unsure whether they will be able to secure the correct documentation in time for upcoming trips.
Founder and lead travel advisor at The Cruise & Travel Store, Belle Goldie, said she had clients in tears, with losses stretching into the tens of thousands of dollars.
“I’ve now got clients on the phone in tears because they’ve just been told they may lose their $49,000 tours due to these new regulations,” Goldie wrote on LinkedIn.
While she did not begrudge the changes themselves, Goldie said the timing was the major issue.
“I have no issue with new requirements being introduced for British citizens travelling to the UK – every country has the right to set its own entry rules. But the timeframe given for these changes is completely unreasonable.”
She told Travel Weekly that nearly 50 of her customers had been affected.
Goldie is not alone in navigating distraught dual-citizen Australians. The ABC says it has been contacted by hundreds of readers who are “frustrated and confused” by the changes, while a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed multiple concerns had been raised with the British High Commission in Australia.
Ironically, the changes leave British dual citizens facing steeper costs and longer delays than many foreign visitors. Affected travellers are now forced to either pay around $1,000 for a Certificate of Entitlement, wait up to 17 weeks for a British passport, or even renounce their British citizenship if they wish to enter the UK and do not already hold a valid passport. Meanwhile, travellers from other countries will simply be required to purchase a £16 Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
What are the changes?
The UK passport rule changes, announced by the British government in January and coming into force on 26 February, require British and Irish dual citizens to enter the UK on a valid British or Irish passport, or hold a Certificate of Entitlement to the right of abode in their non-UK passport. Dual nationals will no longer be permitted to enter the UK using only a foreign passport, such as an Australian one.
The Certificate of Entitlement is significantly more expensive than a standard passport, costing £589 (around AU$1,180) whether applied for inside or outside the UK, making it a costly alternative for travellers who have not renewed a British passport.
We’ve conveyed these concerns to the British High Commission, and I hope we can work through this.
The changes coincide with the rollout of the UK’s ETA system for visa-free visitors, with airlines now checking documentation at check-in and denying boarding if travellers do not hold the correct passport or approval.
On ABC radio yesterday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had expressed her concerns to the British High Commission.
“I have seen the concern that people have raised about that, both publicly, and obviously, engagement with the community,” she said. “These are changes to UK entry requirements which the United Kingdom has put in place for all dual citizens, so not just Australians, but all of their citizens. So obviously, this is a broader change that many Australian-British dual citizens are caught up in. We’ve conveyed these concerns to the British High Commission, and I hope we can work through this.”
What options do dual citizens without a passport have?
- Travel on a valid British passport – the simplest option in principle, though applicants should allow for lengthy processing times and application fees, which can run into the hundreds of dollars for Australians applying from overseas.
- Travel on a valid Irish passport, if eligible.
- Apply for a Certificate of Entitlement to the right of abode, allowing entry on a foreign passport but costing £589 and taking several weeks to process.
- Formally renounce British citizenship and travel on an Australian passport under standard visitor rules (including obtaining an ETA), a step that is irreversible and generally viewed as a last resort.
Travellers who arrive at the airport without one of these options in place risk being denied boarding, as airlines are now enforcing the rules at check-in.
What does it mean for UK tourism?
The changes have the potential to ripple through UK inbound tourism, particularly from Australia – one of Britain’s most valuable long-haul markets.
Australians typically make more than one million visits to the UK each year and collectively spend around £1.6 billion, placing Australia among the UK’s top inbound markets by value, driven by long stays and strong visiting-friends-and-relatives travel.
With some Australians even threatening to boycott the UK in response to the changes, the impact could be costly for Britain’s tourism industry – and add another layer of complexity for agents booking UK travel in the months ahead.
